Vlad the Impaler
Vald the Impaler; the Prince that defended his kingdom from the invading Turks, vs. Sun Tzu, the legendary strategist who changes warfare in China forever...WHO IS DEADIEST?!?! History Vlad the Impaler, also known as Vlad III and Vlad Dracula (literally: "Son of the dragon") was the Prince of Wallachia (in modern day Romania) who is best known historically for his resistance against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion, and for the cruel punishments he imposed on his rivals. In the English-speaking world, he is perhaps best remembered for possibly inspiring the name of the titular vampire from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. The title "the Impaler" refers to his habit of having his enemies impaled upon stakes. The consensus among most historians is that anywhere from 40,000-100,000 victims were impaled during Vlad's three reigns as prince. It was also reported that in 1462, Mehmed II, the man who conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) and was well-renowned for his own psychological tactics, was forced to retreat in disgust at the sight of 20,000 impaled corpses (many of them Turkish prisoners of war) outside of Vlad's capital. Vlad was also a courageous man- he led from the front and never let his men do all the fighting. Although he is renowned for his cruelty throughout most of Western Europe, he is regarded as a national hero in his native Romania. Once Vlad had peasants, beggers; the lowest of the low, come to a big fest. When they were all drunk; Vlad asked if they wanted to never be hungry agiain. When they said yes, Vald left and ordered his guards to burn the dinning hall down with all the people inside. Vlad was known throughout his land for his fierce insistence on honesty and order. Thieves seldom dared practice their trade within his domain, for they knew that the stake awaited any who were caught. Vlad was so confident in the effectiveness of his law that he laced a golden cup on display in the central square of Tirgoviste. The cup was never stolen and remained entirely unmolested throughout Vlad’s reign. Another storys goes Vlad once had a mistress that lived in a house in the back streets of Tirgoviste. This woman apparently loved the prince to distraction and was always anxious to please him. Vlad was often moody and depressed and the woman made every effort to lighten her lover’s burdens. Once, when he was particularly depressed, the woman dared tell him the lie that she was with child. Vlad had the woman examined by the bath matrons. When informed that the woman was lying, Vlad drew his knife and cut her open from the groin to her breast, leaving her to die in agony. Another story tells of a merchant from a foreign land visited Tirgoviste. Aware of the reputation of Vlad’s land for honesty, he left a treasure-laden cart unguarded in the street over night. Upon returning to his wagon in the morning, the merchant was shocked to find 160 golden ducats missing. Then the merchant complained of his loss to the prince, Vlad assured him that his money would be returned. Vlad Dracula then issued a proclamation to the city—find the thief and return the money or the city will be destroyed. During the night he ordered that 160 ducats plus one extra be taken from his own treasury and placed in the merchant’s cart. On returning to his cart the next morning and counting his money the merchant discovered the extra ducat. The merchant returned to Vlad and reported that his money had indeed been returned plus an extra ducat. Meanwhile the thief had been captured and turned over to the prince’s guards along with the stolen money. Vlad ordered the thief impaled and informed the merchant that if he had not reported the extra ducat he would have been impaled alongside the thief. Weapons The Steel Crossbow is a light, easy to carry, accurate, strong (projectile power), distance crossbow. The Kilij is a curved single edged Turkic sword, because of the curved blade it makes it a good chopping and hacking weapon. The Halberd is a Swiss pole axe. This weapon consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It has a hook or a thorn on the back side of the axe. It can hack/chop, thrust/stab, and hook the enemy. It is a lethal weapon. The Hand Cannon is a portable mini cannon. This firearm can fire either; pebbles or shaped iron or stone balls. Simulated Battle The battle starts out with Vlad sneaking up to Sun Tzu's campsite, where Sun Tzu has set himself down to a cup of tea. Close by, Vlad sets his shield into the ground and readies his hand cannon, firing a shot which destroys the general's teapot. Vlad laughs evilly as he has taken the general off guard, but Sun Tzu raises his repeating crossbow and gets off a few shots and runs away. Vlad ducks behind his shield but is struck in the chest. Relatively unharmed, Vlad pulls out the bolt and readies his hand cannon again, but Sun Tzu is nowhere to be seen. Collecting his effects (a steel helm, his shield, and his halberd), Vlad runs off searching for Sun Tzu. But the general is not far away as he gets the drop on Vlad by shooting him from a tree with a flaming arrow. The Son of the Dragon is thrown to the ground by the force of the shot, but still remains relatively unharmed as he scrambles to his feet while putting out the small fire. Sun jumps down from the tree, but is promptly stabbed in the thigh by Vlad's halberd. Sun Tzu yells in pain and karate chops the halberd, breaking it at the head which astonishes Vlad. Sun Tzu kicks Vlad in the face and pulls out the halberd, hobbling away as Vlad gets back up and collects his helmet and shield again. Not far away, Sun Tzu pulls out a spare armor set hidden undearneath fallen foliage and a zhua. Above him, Vlad the Impaler watches him, preparing his steel crossbow. Vlad walks a little ways and sees the general's armor nearby and takes his shot. The armor falls over and Vlad goes to investigate, only to find that he shot a decoy. The real general then jumps down, disarming Vlad from his shield using the zhua. Vlad dodges another swing from the zhua and draws his kilij, slashing Sun across the midsection as he recovers. The general falls back again, as Vlad pulls off his gauntlet, revealing that the zhua managed to cut his arm. The enraged Vlad picks up his kilij and charges Sun Tzu, who pulls out his jian and clashes with the warrior king. Both warriors clash until Vlad severs both of Tzu's hands at the wrist. The general drops to his knees as The Impaler raises his sword over his head, but stops in midswing from decapitating his victim. Grinning wildly with an evil laugh, Vlad has other ideas for the fallen general. A shot of the Wallachian countryside is shown as terrible sounds are heard offscreen. When we cut back, it is revealed that Vlad has impaled the defeated Sun Tzu on a large stake. Vlad gives a loud victory roar as he raises his kilij in the air. Trivia *This is the first fight where the victor has had a three-to-one Edge advantage over the other warrior. Category:Warriors Category:Ancient Warriors